Bart De Clercq (Lotto Soudal) again proved that he has improved his time trialling a lot by finishing an excellent 11th in the Vuelta a Espana time trial. However, he is still 14th in the overall standings.

"Before the stage I was quite confident that I would do a good time trial, considering that my TT in Poland was also successful," he said. "Nevertheless, we already have more than two hard weeks behind us. I started pretty fast and was a little afraid that I would not be able not keep up the pace, but in the first part I was able to keep pace with the times of Jurgen Van den Broeck and later even gain some time. And considering he was doing well, I knew I had to hold that pace. An eleventh place is a result that I'm definitely happy with. 

"In the overall, I am still fourteenth. I took some time back on the riders in front of me but I do not know if that will be enough for the next few days to gain one or two places. Maybe I should try to join a break and even play for the stage victory but that will depend on the race situation."